India, April 17 -- The state government on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that it is yet to frame a policy to deal with Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), an extremely rare but fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting children that has a fatality rate of 95%.

The statement came in response to a Public interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Mahadu Belkar, a 44-year-old businessman from Raigad and father of a young child affected by the disease. The petitioner sought directions to the state government to initiate a research programme for finding a cure for the rare disease and providing financial assistance to families of affected children.

SSPE, a slow and persistent viral infection related to measles, is a complication of...